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The Paper Jets Wiki
Welcome to the The Paper Jets Wiki Everything there is to know about one of New Jersey's brightest young rock bands! About The Paper Jets are an American power pop band from Princeton New Jersey. Formed in 2008, the group currently consists of Brian Erickson (sometimes referred to as 'Brian E') on vocals and guitar, Scottie Maloney on bass, and Frank Lettieri Jr. on drums and vocals. Over the course of the band's career, Lettieri and Erickson have increasingly asserted themselves as the group's engineer and producer, respectively. In 2014, they were named one of Philadelphia's Top 25 Local Bands by Radio 104.5 FM and their latest album, We Are All Strange Friends, was crowned one of New Jersey's Top 20 albums of the year by Jersey Beat Magazine. History Following the dissolution of each of the members' previous bands, singer/guitarist Brian Erickson and drummer Frank Lettieri Jr. teamed up with former Ink Spills guitarists Bill Lambusta and Scottie Maloney (who would switch to bass). Naming themselves 'The Paper Jets' after an all-night brainstorming session between Erickson and Lambusta, the newly-minted band made its debut at John & Peter's in New Hope, PA on October 23, 2008. Pictures Like This One The band immediately took to the studio to record its proposed debut album, Pictures Like This One. However, after financial difficulties continued to affect both the band and their studio, the album release was cancelled. Face Forward As it became increasingly clear that Pictures Like This One may never be completed, the group retreated to Lettieri's newly-contructed home studio to record what would becom e Face Forward, their debut album. Recorded in a single weekend (March 13 - 16, 2009), Face Forward marked a noticeable change in the group dynamic. The band still held out faint hope that Pictures would eventually be released, so Erickson witheld those songs from the Face Forward sessions, prompting the other three members to each contribute their own original material. Mixed by Lambusta, Lettieri, and Jeff Fiedler, Face Forward ''was released on June 9, 2009 to critical acclaim. The ensuing tour was also successful, as the band trekked down to North Carolina to play the annual WE Fest. With an album finally under their belts, The Paper Jets stood poised to take on their next project...a concert film. New Member and Concert Film As the ''Face Forward tour came to a close, the band met keyboardist Kristen Leu in September 2009 who - after approaching Lettieri and Erickson following an August 2009 performance - asked to join the group. She passed her audition and The Paper Jets immediately scheduled dates to showcase their new five-piece lineup. The Fall of 2009 gave way to the new year and the band agreed that its next release would be a concert film and accompanying DVD. In March of 2010, the group hired director James W. Parker and proucer Scott Kammerer and filmed Bored In Town, a full-length concert film. Unfortunately, the filming and performance did not go according to plan, causing Kristen Leu to quit just two weeks afterward. Following a brief but successful tour down to Washington, DC, the band reconvened with Kammerer to mix the audio from the concert. Meanwhile, Lettieri edited the video together. The group was determined not to let the perceived failure of the show and departure of a member deter its plans. To add extras to the DVD, the band once again turned to Kammerer who provided a mix of "Over Now," for use in the band's official music video. In addition to that, Lambusta came up with the idea of the group performing a stripped-down acoustic set in Lettieri's living room to supplement the concert material since the band could only salvage nine songs from the main performance footage. Kristen Leu Keyboardist Kristen Leu was a member of The Paper Jets from September 2009 - April 2010. Most notably, she appears on the group's Bored In Town concert film. No formal plans were made to record with Leu given her limited tenure in the group and - as such - no studio recordings exist which include her. Leu departed the band acrimoniously, not taking to the group's perceived lack of direction following the Bored In Town filming debacle. Ammends would be made several months later when Maloney invited Leu to his wedding. In February 2012, Erickson contacted Leu to perform backing vocals on We Are All Strange Friends. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts did not allow Leu to participate in the sessions. DVD Release Bored In Town would eventually be released on November 19, 2011, but not before major upheavel and the departure of another bandmember. Maloney Leaves and [[the No Good Sessions|the No Good Sessions]] Following a successful Summer 2010 tour which saw the band playing to a large festival crowd in front of the Washington Monument, The Paper Jets regrouped around their as-yet unreleased concert film project. With a little distance now between the band and the Bored In Town film, they felt they could tackle the project with more clarity. However, family pressure and an increasingly difficult schedule proved too much for Maloney. After the band's December 2010 performance at Mercer College, Scottie Maloney quit The Paper Jets. Instead of letting this deflate them, the band - Lambusa and Erickson, in particular - immedately took to the studio to quickly record a new EP in the spirit of ''Face Forward. The two would quickly record basic tracks together, then bring them to Lettieri to finish. They dubbed the project, ''No Good, and managed to record a total of seven tracks. While the session dates were productive, they lacked the spontaneity that energized the Face Forward recordings. Disagreements over song direction and production decisions led to tension and the No Good sessions were stopped. Lambusta's Departure As the No Good sessions ground to a halt, activity from The Paper Jets was minimal. They performed one show in January 2011 at McGuinn's in Trenton, NJ. Since Maloney was no longer a part of the band, and Erickson proved that singing and playing bass was not an option, they recruited former Invisible Solid Drew Novelli to step in, reuniting the band's original lineup for the first time in four years. They were augmented by former Sly Figurine Tim Ryan, as well, who contributed third guitar. Other former bandmembers Jeff Fiedler and Jim McGee were in the audience that night and came up to the stage for the final song: an ensemble performance of Lettieri's "Memories." Despite the inadvertant reunion and the overall positive reaction to the show, this would prove to be Lambusta's final performance with the band. Activity through the winter was scarce. Lettieri and Erickson gave a TV interview and played an acoustic duo show; a sign that all things in Paper Jets camp were not quite right. And in March of 2011, Lambusta left The Paper Jets. Maloney Returns and the DVD Gets Released After getting his personal affairs in order, Maloney was able to return to The Paper Jets. It was decided that the band would remain a three-piece for the time being, bring in additional members if they found compelling candidates. But their first order of business was to complete and release their long-overdue concert film which they did on November 19, 2011. 'Sorta Bored' The DVD was appended with an extra CD entitled Sorta Bored, a collection of 18 rare, previously unreleased recordings from the Invisible Solid-era. The collection was compiled by Erickson and former bandmate Jeff Fiedler. Said Erickson, "Sorta Bored was our way of giving a respectful nod to our past, but also finally putting it behind us...for the first time, we were looking ahead." "Atlantic City" The Paper Jets attracted the attention of FDR Label, a Chesterfield, NJ-based powerpop imprint when label head Mick Chorba caught their performance of Bruce Springsteen's, "Atlantic City." The band subsequently contributed a studio version of, "Atlantic City," to a FDR compilation album entitled, My Hometown: A Tribute to New Jersey. "Atlantic City," became one of the compilation's lead singles and The Paper Jets performed at the release party. "Atlantic City," is also unique as it gave drummer Frank Lettieri Jr a chance to showcase his exceptional studio prowess. In addition to producing the song, he sang lead, played drums and also contributed lead and rhythm guitar to the track. Scottie Maloney plays bass and Brian Erickson supplies additional rhythm guitar and backing vocals. While it is not the only Paper Jets song on which Lettieri sings lead, it was the first single where that took place. On July 23, 2013, My Hometown was released on FDR Label. We Are All Strange Friends The band hit the road following the release of Bored In Town/Sorta Bored. They hired a new manager in Bill Greenwood, an old WRRC-FM DJ during Lettieri and Erickson's time at the station. He had been a fan of The Invisible Solid and kept up with The Paper Jets in the ensuing years. Greenwood's first assignment as manager was to help the band decide its next move: revist and complete Pictures Like This One, or begin work on a new concept-oriented song cycle that Erickson was calling We Are All Strange Friends. Erickson showed the band the new demos he had been working on and it was ultimately decided that Pictures Like This One would be shelved indefinitely. The Strange Friends sessions officially began at Erickson's house in Hopewell, New Jersey. He put down guitar parts and called in his old high school friend Tim Ryan to lay down keyboard and synthisizer parts, as well. The sessions then moved to MOSHI Productions in Bordentown, NJ where engineers Ian Bennett and Jeff Sarafinas took over. The rhythm section put their parts down next. Most notably, Frank's drum tracking was done as Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the East Coast. Erickson added his vocal parts next, then Tim Ryan put down piano and backing vocal tracks. On the strength of his performance during the recording sessions, his considerable musicianship, his long-standing friendship with Erickson, and good working relationship with Lettieri and Maloney, Tim Ryan was brought on board as a full-time member of The Paper Jets. Ryan - a strong songwriter in his own right - had his own material he had wanted to contribute. The plan became to finish and release Strange Friends. Following its album cycle, The Paper Jets would then be guided by a Lennon/McCartney-esque songwriting partnership between Erickson and Ryan. The Strange Friends sessions continued on with confidence. The band had found their man. 'Ryan's Death' In the small hours of the morning on September 29, 2011, while driving Eastbound on Interstate 80 through Rockaway Township, New Jersey, Tim Ryan lost his life in an automobile accident . He was interred at Holy Sepulchre cemetary in Coram, NY on October 4, 2011. 'Ensuing Tour' Prior to the release of We Are All Strange Friends, the band hit the road, this time playing college campuses. In order to help themselves through an understandably difficult time, The Paper Jets hired Jim McGee as a touring member. The tour was brief, only lasting three months, afterwhich the band completed the recording of Strange Friends. McGee would contribute guitar to the songs, "I Said You Don't," and "Friends of Friends." He was invited to join as a permanent member of the group but politely declined. Following the completion of The Paper Jets' 2012 college tour, Jim McGee amicably went his own way. It was at this point the band decided it would continue on permanently as a trio. 'Release and Reception' After numerous delays, We Are All Strange Friends was released on January 28, 2014. Because advance copies were circulated up to eight months before the album's official release date, pre-release reviews were both prevalent and positive. Jersey Beat Magazine named LP one of New Jersey's Top 20 albums of 2013 (despite it not being officially released until 2014). The group's fortunes continued as the album's first single, "Cooking Up An Accident" received considerable airplay on influential Philadelphia rock station, Radio 104.5 FM. After a successful appearance on their Live at Five program, the station christened The Paper Jets one of Philadelphia's Top 25 Local Bands. Related Projects While The Paper Jets remain the prime focus of each of the three principle bandmembers, they maintain a number of extracurricular projects, including: *Dust of Days - Frank Lettieri's solo project; he occasionally tours with former member Jim McGee and has released an EP and a full-length *Secondhand Studios - Brian and girlfriend/Paper Jets photographer Amanda Guthrie's recording studio *The Sleeping Satellites Initiative - a charity music project helmed by former member Jeff Fiedler, featuring participation from current and past Paper Jets *Tim Ryan Memorial Scholarship - A scholarship set up by the Ryan family following his death *Stories on Tape - Scottie Maloney's solo project *Tim Ryan Music - Page started after Tim Ryan's death; occasionally posts new songs, pictures, and memorabilia from Tim's music career *Amanda Guthrie Photography - Official portfolio for Amanda Guthrie, The Paper Jets' photographer Studio and Session Work Both Brian Erickson and Frank Lettieri Jr have been employed as producers/engineers by a variety of artists. Erickson's Production Resume *2002's The Olson EP by Burlington, VT singer/songwriter Spencer Rodgers *2006's Longer Than Expected by New York-based singer Michelle Cacciatore. Lettieri is credited as the bassist. *2007's Love Triangle by Philadelphia singer/songwriter Matt Pischl *2007's Where You Begin by New York singer/songwriter and one-time Paper Jets member Tim Ryan (unreleased). Lettieri and part-time Paper Jets member also appear on this album as drummer and guitarist, respectively *2013 Various single tracks by Philadelphia recording collective The Sleeping Satellites Initiative *2014's I Gave You My All by Princeton, NJ-based singer/songwriter Jesse Elliot. Lettieri and McGee are featured on this album as drummer and guitarist, respectively Lettieri's Production Resume *2010's untitled EP by Hannah Zaic & the Damaged Goods. Scottie Maloney is featured as a guitarist *2011's Zero Hour by Sleeping Satellites *2011's Thorns & Grace by Dust of Days *2012's "Baby Beluga" by The Timid Roosevelts which appears on their album, For a New Deal *2013's Ethers & Embers by Dust of Days Member Timeline During their ea rly, "Invisible Solid," years, the band went through a number of lineup changes within a short timespan. Since 2009, personnel has remained relatively stable and from 2011 forward, the core trio of Erickson, Lettieri, and Maloney has remained near-constant. Reunions With Former Members *The band remains on good terms with their former members and often involves them in activities both in studio and on stage: *Lettieri and Erickson are regular contributers to The Sleeping Satellites Initiative which also includes former members Jeff Fiedler and Bill Lambusta. *Drew Novelli is jokingly referred to as the group's "backup bassist," though he was called into duty for a January 2011 performance during Maloney's brief hiatus from the band. *Lambusta and Novelli joined the group for two songs during a May 2011 concert date. *Erickson and Fiedler recorded a studio version of Novelli's song, "What Else," which has yet to be released. *Erickson and Lambusta (along with former Luck Out singer Liz Gayder) wrote and recorded a new song entitled, "Say Your Name," in March 2014, though it has yet to be released. *In February of 2012, Kristen Leu was planning to record backup vocals for the song, "Set of Rules," however, scheduling difficulties did not allow it. Lettieri ended up recording the parts himself. *The Paper Jets, alongside Lambusta and Fiedler, with Michelle Cacciatore, Bill Kron and Rob Ryan performed a half-hour tribute set of Tim Ryan's music following his death. Category:Browse